Ten Years Old
by AlsoI'mBatman
Summary: Dick finds out a secret about Damian that makes him realise that this ten year old boy may act mature, but he's really just a ten year old boy.


**Ten Years Old**

"Robin! Come on I'm not playing games!" Batman's deep voice echoed across the cave. When they were in costume Batman _never_ allowed them to use their real names.

"_Batman,_ playing _games_?" Came the sarcastic mock surprise, "Why, of _course_ not." Robin stalked toward the Batmobile, his cape was loosely thrown on and his left boot's red shoelaces were untied. He could almost feel the glare he was recieving.

"_Robin_," Batman was practically growling at the moment, "_get. in. the. car._" Robin stepped in the passenger side, Batman quickly stalked to the driver's. Their patrol had been delayed already ten minutes, due to Robin's tardiness. No words were spoken as the Batmobile sped from the cave. Robin crossed his arms.

"Two nights." Batman finally broke the silence. Robin didn't have to ask what he was talking about, he knew it was how many nights patrol he was being docked. He assumed the silence from that side of the vehicle was because Batman had been contemplating his punishment. He was correct.

"One for being late, and one for the sarcasm." Batman reasoned. Robin didn't speak back just smacked his forehead against the window lightly and kept it resting there.

'_Sorry Damian, but you have to learn to get ready quicker.'_ Batman thought as he noticed his young ward's silent anger.

"Your shoelaces are untied." Batman stopped studying Robin's form and turned back toward the road as he pointed out the wardrobe error. Robin stayed silent, he turned a glare up at Batman and without looking at his shoes, stuffed the laces of his left boot inside of it, instead of actually tieing it. Batman saw the glare from his periphrial vision.

"It's dangerous, what if out in the field you tripped? You could break something, or worse... Robin what if you're jumping from rooftops and you fall off to early? You could _die_!" Batman's voice rose as he continued talking.

"I fixed it." Robin replied darkly, gesturing to the shoelace now stuffed inside the left boot.

"Don't let it happen again." Batman nearly growled. Robin tilted his head against the window once again, watching as they passed over an empty bridge, speeds of well over 90 miles an hour.

'_I couldn't live with myself if he got hurt.' _Batman was thinking in his head. He was angry at _himself_, not Robin; the thought of his young son getting hurt had disturbed him, and he wanted to stop thinking about Robin's small body stumbling off a rooftop. He shook his head to clear it.

**()()()()**

"Robin!" Dick placed the domino mask on his face. Now he was Nightwing. He looked to Bruce, who was fully dressed as Batman, with an exasperated look on his face.

"Is he always this late?" Nightwing and Batman stood in front of the Batmobile, ready to go.

"Only recently..." Batman replied in a low voice. Nightwing slung a leg over his motorcycle.

"We're going to leave you behind!" Nightwing yelled. Robin was already supposed to be docked of two nights patrol due to his tardiness, but because Nightwing was in town Batman made the exception so they could go together. Robin appeared from the back of the cave.

"God, we were just about to call the Titans and have them do a search and rescue mission for you!" Nightwing angled the front tires of his motorcycle towards the exit of the cave.

"Very funny, Grayson." Robin scowled, then cringed when he realised he just used a civilian name when they were in costume. _ 'That's going to be another night of patrol I'll be missing...'_

"Robin. Car." Batman spun and entered the Batmobile before he could Robin could react. Nightwing took in Robin's appearance. His cape was loosely thrown on, the hood was inside-out. His left boot was untied completly and his right bootlaces were loose. Nightwing shook his head quietly. '_Bruce hates untidyness...'_

He turned the key in the ignition and the motor drowned out any other noises. He revved the bike in inticipation. The Batmobile sped out of the cave and he followed nearby.

**()()()()**

Batman screeched the Batmobile to a halt once they were back into the Batcave. Nightwing followed nearby on his motorcycle. He decided to have a little fun with his parking. He jerked the wheel of the motorcycle abrubtly sideways and slammed on the brakes. He drifted sideways into the exact spot he wanted, right next to the Batmobile. Once completely stopped he swung his foot over the side of the bike, taking off his helmet at the same time, with a smirk. He knew Damian was staring. After all what ten year old boy doesn't think motorcycle stunts are cool?

Damian was in awe the whole patrol. It wasn't the first time he had seen Nightwing and Batman work together, but it was still amazing for him to see. They seemed to work in unison, silently holding entire conversations and executing perfect fighting combanations. '_They don't call them the original Dynamic duo for nothing...'_ he sighed.

Bruce was already at the back of the cave, changing out of the Batman cowl. Damian had discarded his cape almost immediatly after stepping out of the car. He took a seat on the bench across from the batcomputer.

"When am I going to get a motorcycle?" He mumbled. Dick took off his mask and headed toward where Damian sat.

"When your old enough to make sure your hood isn't inside out before patrol." Dick joked at Damian. Damian didn't look amused. He slipped off his left boot, the laces still tucked inside instead of being tied properly. His right boot however didn't come off as easily, it was tied. Bruce came back with a small smile on his face, directed at Dick.

"Why don't you come up for coffee after your done changing? Alfred wants to catch-up." Dick smiled at the suggestion, he knew it was never just Alfred that wanted to do some catching up. Bruce always used Alfred as the excuse.

"Of course, I'll be right up." It had only been a week or so since he'd last stayed at Wayne Manor but he wasn't about to refuse spending time with his adopted father and grandfather. Bruce continued up the stairs. Dick went to the back of the cave to continue changing. When he came back he found that Damian had not moved. He was still sitting on the bench although he had changed into a Gotham Knights t-shirt and pajama pants.

"Sup Little D." Dick gave Damian a smile, but it slowly receded when he noticed Damian's expression. The younger boy sat on the bench with his head resting on his hands, and looked impossibly sad.

"Dami?" Dick whispered and put a hand on his shoulder. Damian looked up long enough to catch Dick's eye briefly.

"Dick, can I trust you?" Damian whispered. Dick's eyes watered slightly, Damian never called him by his first name. Once Damian called him Richard, but that was when he was in terrible danger, the panic in Damian's voice was something Dick knew he never wanted to hear again. But this time was different.

"Of course..." Dick didn't know what else to say. Damian grabbed the boot off the floor in front of him and shoved it toward Dick. Dick took it from Damian's grasp in confusion. Nothing appeared to be wrong with it.

"I...I've been late to the last two patrols..." Damian confessed. Dick looked at him with curious eyes, still holding the boot.

"It's because... well... do you remember that night I bruised my ankle? When we went on patrol together?"

"Ya...? It's not still hurting is it?"

"No. But... well I had to untie my shoelaces to get my boot off..." Damian trailed off and looked away. Dick looked down at the boot; the red laces were still untied. That's when he realized that this was the same shoe that Damian had tucked the laces on the inside earlier on patrol. Dick thought Damian was in to much of a hurry to tie them. He now thought otherwise.

"You... you..." Dick thought carefully about how to word his question,"can't tie them?" he used no mockery in his voice. There were no judgemental tones. Damian looked up at Dick with watery eyes. He shook his head.

"No."

"If you would've told me sooner, I would've showed you how." Damian looked up at Dick, who was still holding the boot in his lap.

'_God the poor kid. He can beat the living tar out of criminals with guns, but he _**is **_only ten years old, and never really had a mother...' _

"I didn't want to lose anyone's respect. All of them treat me like a child and finally I feel like now that I pull my weight on patrols, they've started to respect me..."

"Oh Dami, I'm not judging you-"

Damian cut him off with a wave of the hand.

"I know, Grayson. As much as I've tried to ignore you, I have noticed your overwhelming sense to _fix_ everything that is broken," he paused, "your the only one who I knew wouldn't judge me... Didn't you tell me we were brothers now...?"

Dick was touched by Damian's words. It was as close he had ever come to saying '_I love you_' he'd ever gotten.

"Of course we are Little D. And that's what big brothers are for, to teach you things."

"My mother never taught me anything but violence," Damian blurted bitterly, "When I was living with the League, they taught me all the 'important' stuff, like how to weild a knife, martial arts..." he trailed off before coming back on topic,"But they never taught me how to tie my own goddamn shoes," He ended his sentence in a small laugh, "Don't tell Pennyworth I said that word though..." he said as an afterthought. Dick smiled and nodded.

"Well I'm going to teach you, starting tomarrow, before patrol." _'So then you don't have to be late...' _he didn't add. Damian gave a small smile at Dick's promise. Dick put down the shoe and grabbed Damian's hand after a moment of comfortable silence.

"Now come on I bet Alfred made cookies."

**()()()()**

"Hurry up! We're going to be late to patrol!" Nightwing yelled. He swung his leg over the side of the bike and sighed good-naturedly. He looked over at where Robin was standing by the Batmobile. Robin gave him a small smile.

"Batman! We don't have all night!" Nightwing called again. This time it was _his_ turn to be late. Batman stalked to the front of the cave and took in the appearance of his young sons at the same time. Robin was leaning against the Batmobile with a cocky grin on his face. His cape was neatly put on and the hood was right-side out. His mask wasn't askew, his boots were both neatly tied.

'_Good, now I don't have to keep worrying about him tripping over the side of a building...' _Batman entered the Batmobile in silence. Robin exchanged a glance with Nightwing. Even with their masks on, Nightwing saw the silent 'thank you' he was being given.


End file.
